Written by Kentuckians for Kentuckians, Faces of Kentucky is a comprehensive history of Kentucky designed for young students. The state's story comes alive as never before through the images and life stories of the diverse people of the Commonwealth. The product of a collaboration of the state historian of Kentucky and an award-winning teacher (both native Kentuckians), Faces of Kentucky approaches learning as a voyage of discovery. Numerous illustrations, thought-provoking questions, and historical mysteries to be solved seek to challenge young readers and to help them think about their state, themselves, and their future. Features: Timelines from early history to present Discussion questions; Over 250 photographs; 25 Maps; Primary Documents; Teacher's Guide with companion CD for use in the elementary school classroom.

"Not only does this new book record a factual story of my great-grandfather Jesse James in print, but also helps the reader get to know Jesse's true personality and appearance. A great contribution toward separating facts from folklore and provides a guide for any future photo identification work." --James R. Ross, Superior Court Judge of the State of California, great-grandson of Jesse James A name well known to most Americans, Jesse James was a veteran of the Civil War, a bankrobber, and a very romanticized popular hero. Although James has been the subject of countless biographies and historical novels, as well as the theatre and cinema, new light can still be shed on his life. In The Many Faces of Jesse James, author, the late Phillip W. Steele, with George Warfel, presented a fascinating study of James' life using his many portraits as a frame of reference. Steele took each documented photograph of James and examined it closely, showing how the dress, demeanor, and physical well-being of James relate to what scholars believe him to have been doing at the time. Since the possibility of more actual portraits and photographs of James exists, Steele explained the process George Warfel has devised to accurately identify Jesse James, even including a group of "false photos" of James to illustrate his point. Fans of James-Younger gang lore will appreciate this fresh, yet practical approach to understanding this enigmatic historical figure. Readers for whom Jesse James is only a name will no doubt become more knowledgeable about the complex circumstances that led the outlaw to lead the life he did.

Churchill Downs is the epicenter of Kentucky's equine heritage and the most storied racetrack in the world. More than a thousand workers come to the backside of Churchill Downs on any given day during a meet. Before sunrise, seven days a week, stable hands, hot walkers, grooms, outriders, jockeys, and more tend to the well-being of the horses and the track. Most will never stand in the Winner's Circle. There could be no Kentucky Derby without their contributions.Better Lucky Than Good is the most caring, in-depth look into the lives and stories of equine workers ever published--and it was written by the people who live and work on the backside of Churchill Downs. The book's 32 authors include grooms, hot walkers, exercise riders, a clocker, an outrider, assistant trainers, a jockey, a starting gate crew member, a pony person, a horticulturist, a silks seamstress, shedrow foremen, a tack and saddle man, a security guard, a horse tattooer, trainers, an alcohol and drug abuse counselor, a farm manager, a chaplaincy associate, and many more. "Every person I know who has ever 'written a horse book,' or worked extensively as a journalist covering the world of the track, has at some point had a version of this thought: If somebody would just do a good oral history, interviewing the people who actually work with the horses--the grooms and riders and ferriers and assistant trainers, the folks on the "backside"--it would be worth 10,000 pages of even the best literary description of the sport. Now the Louisville Story Program has done this, and done it beautifully. It's no exaggeration to say that this book has needed to exist for 200 years."--John Jeremiah Sullivan, author of Pulphead and Blood Horses

Images of America: Kentucky's Horse-Drawn Era takes a look at the days when animals--mostly horses and mules--supplied the "horsepower" for daily life in Kentucky. The animals' work included hauling buggies, carriages, wagons, hearses, circus wagons, parade floats, bookmobiles, coal cars, school buses, and everything and everyone in between. This book even has a photograph of a mule team pulling a two-story house down the street of a small town in Kentucky; other unusual images feature a "high-diving" horse and the winners of the Mule Derby. These vintage photographs highlight horses and mules in some of the many roles they filled before the advent of the automobile, the pickup truck, and the tractor.

The true story of a forgotten champion: “Bringing Sir Barton out from the shadows, Jennifer Kelly restores him to a richly-deserved spotlight.” ―Dorothy Ours, author of Man o’ War He was always destined to be a champion. Royally bred, with English and American classic winners in his pedigree, Sir Barton shone from birth, dubbed the “king of them all.” But after a winless two-year-old season and a near-fatal illness, uncertainty clouded the start of Sir Barton’s three-year-old season. Then his surprise victory in America’s signature race, the Kentucky Derby, started him on the road to history, where he would go on to dominate the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, completing America’s first Triple Crown. His wins inspired the ultimate chase for greatness in American horse racing and established an elite group that would grow to include legends like Citation, Secretariat, and American Pharoah. After a series of dynamic wins in 1920, popular opinion tapped Sir Barton as the best challenger for the wonder horse Man o’ War, and demanded a match race to settle once and for all which horse was the greatest. That duel would cement the reputation of one horse for all time and diminish the reputation of the other for the next century—until now. Sir Barton and the Making of the Triple Crown is the first book to focus on Sir Barton, his career, and his historic impact on horse racing. Jennifer S. Kelly uses extensive research and historical sources to examine this champion’s life and achievements. Kelly charts how Sir Barton broke track records, scored victories over other champions, and sparked the yearly pursuit of Triple Crown glory.

BLACK & WHITE INTERIOR - Every Saddlebred enthusiast should have this book in their Saddlebred library. It is an excellent reference book with interesting facts. Read about the American Saddlebred Visionaries who were the "Movers and Shakers" that brought the breed from the nineteenth century until the present.

Ercel Ellis Jr. was born into the Thoroughbred horse business and has worked in it for seventy-five years. He has been an owner, breeder, trainer, writer and radio broadcaster. His radio show, Horse Tales, has run for twenty years. For all his work, he won the Charles W. Engelhard Award for contributions to the industry. During his life, Ercel has amassed a trove of stories on some of the biggest names in Thoroughbred racing, like Mata Hari, Spy Song and world-famous Man o' War. He also includes stories of lesser-known horses like Dark Mirage, El Chico, Blue Peter and By Jimminy. Join Ercel as he entertains with fascinating stories from more than seven decades with Thoroughbreds.